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Are you ready to introduce finger foods to baby? Sweetpotato finger foods are a great way to start, and this post breaks down some of the ways to prepare and introduce sweetpotatoes to babies.

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Please note that sweetpotatoes is spelled as one word throughout this article, which is the proper spelling. You can learn more here.

I’m in the camp that sweetpotato baby finger food is a great vehicle to introduce solids to babies.

Whether you prefer introducing pureed foods first, or foods baby can hold themselves, sweetpotatoes can cater to both of those and can make so many healthy snacks for babies!

If you care to read more into baby led weaning vs purees, we have an entire guide breaking those down!

Sweetpotato finger foods are easy and versatile, and of course, sweetpotato is very nutritionally dense. These are all qualities you want when serving food to a baby.

Once your baby starts eating more solids and holding foods more, you can start to move away from just serving mashed and pureed foods, and more solids and finger foods for them.

There are so many ideas and recipes, as you later advance to sweetpotato for toddlers!

How to Give Sweetpotato To Baby

If you’re wondering how to serve sweetpotato to baby, know that there are a few different avenues you can take.

Giving sweetpotatoes to your baby can be as easy as just putting it on their high chair tray, on a spoon, in an ezpz bowl or in their hands.

The way you present it and serve it to baby may depend on his/her age, and how you’ve prepared it.

For example, I’ll usually serve mashed sweetpotato to baby on a spoon, but let baby hold a sweetpotato fry or wedge to feed themselves.

I’m a fan of the cook once, serve multiple times method. In other words, cook a bunch of sweetpotatoes at one time, and serve them differently.

Reuse them in different recipes throughout the week! You can see a bunch of examples for what to do with leftover baked sweetpotatoes.

Sweet Potato Finger Foods Examples

Sweetpotatoes for babies are so versatile, and really are a great solution for baby finger foods.

From the obvious sweetpotato fries, sweetpotatoes can also be prepared in several other different ways and served as healthy finger foods for toddlers.

Consider these options:

• diced or in the air fryer
• sweetpotato chips or nachos
• patties or meatballs for babies
• mixed into baby french toast sticks or egg sticks
• fritters or nuggets
• chicken cut into strips – Here are some of my favorite ways to serve chicken to babies.
• with some steamed broccoli for baby
• sweetpotato spaghetti or pasta
• pancakes or waffles – these waffles for babies use sweetpotatoes and spinach, and these pancakes for baby led weaning offer iron, Vitamin C, healthy fats and fiber!
• sweetpotato quickbread
• popsicles – we love these pineapple coconut popsicles with sweetpotato
• sweetpotato tater tots
• sweetpotato muffins or cookies
• kabobs mixed with meat or an iron source – we love oven baked chicken kababs!

You can easily mash a sweetpotato into any of these foods to make sweetpotato finger food recipes, and provide nutrients to babies.

Though not finger foods, we also use sweetpotatoes in sweetpotato smoothies often, too.

How to Cook Sweetpotatoes for Baby Finger Food

There are a few different ways you can cook and cut our favorite orange food for sweetpotato finger foods.

How to make sweetpotato for baby will depend on how you want to serve it, as well as how skilled baby is (ie – can he handle harder foods yet, or still mostly soft textures)?

You can check out different textures and cuts for different months in these posts:

• Baby led weaning 6 months
• Baby led weaning foods 7 months
• Baby led weaning ideas for 9 months

And don’t forget you can always make extra to freeze – for a more complete list of freezable foods for toddlers, check out toddler friendly freezer recipes.

In the Oven

One of the most popular ways to serve sweet potato as baby finger foods are to cut sweet potatoes into fry shape, and cook with your favorite choice of fat (olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil) and serve to baby.

You can cook them in the oven or even the air fryer if you want a crispier finish and faster process.

Sweet potato fries for babies are soft and easy to chew, even without teeth. I definitely recommend using these silicone baking mats.

Adding sweet potato to baked goods is another common way, and these also tend to work as some of the easiest toddler snacks.

You can add some herbs (be careful on the salt), and serve with a dipping sauce, like full fat greek yogurt, peanut butter, butter, mashed avocado, hummus or oil.

We commonly use this sweetpotato spinach baby food recipe as a dip! It’s a great creamy way to get more nutrients and fat in for babies.

In the Air Fryer

Similar to the oven, you can use an air fryer to make sweetpotato wedges in the air fryer or fries, which you can serve as a finger food for babies.

This method cooks the sweet potatoes a little quicker, and may work better for frozen sweet potato options.

To make sweetpotato fries in the air fryer, combine sweetpotatoes with spices in a bowl with a little oil. Place in an even layer and cook for 10-12 minutes.

I cook them similarly to how I cook my air fryer parsnips.

Mashed

Sweetpotatoes can also be cooked and mashed, and mixed together with many other ingredients. This technique works well for meatballs, burgers or patties.

I also use mashed sweetpotatoes in many baked good recipes, like muffins, quick breads and sweetpotato oatmeal cookies.

I also serve mashed sweetpotatoes to the girls.

I’ll either bake them in the oven and scoop the interior out, or microwave them for 6-8 minutes (depending on size) and then peel off the skin.

Pureed

Sweetpotatoes are also very easy to puree into a baby food texture, however, this is less common for those looking to serve sweetpotato finger foods.

Check out more recipes for sweetpotatoes for baby led weaning for more pureed options.

Spiralized

You can also spiralize sweetpotatoes using a spiralizer. This is fun for mixing into other pastas or serving on its own as sweetpotato pasta.

Kids love the shapes, and this works really well for sweetpotato baby finger food recipes.

You can also add spiralized sweetpotatoes to any patty recipe, like these turmeric salmon cakes.

Sweetpotato Nutrition Facts

One of the reasons I’m so keen on serving sweet potato baby finger food is because they are so nutritionally dense and easy to add in to nearly everything.

Many are easy hidden veggie recipes for toddlers too, since sweetpotatoes are naturally sweet.

• No added sugars – They are naturally sweet without any added sugars, which makes them great for mixing with other foods to sweeten them or to serve alone.
• High in fiber – A medium sweet potato contains around 100 calories, 4-5 grams of fiber, which can help with babies constipation and digestion.
• Vitamins A and C – Sweetpotatoes also offer high amounts of Vitamins A and C, both of which are important for immunity. Vitamin A is also involved in vision, and Vitamin C helps with skin, nail, and hair health.

Immunity is an ever-important nutrition topic for babies, toddlers, and kids. It seems like they are constantly being subjected to germs and bringing them everywhere.

And they are still developing their immune systems, which is why these nutrients are so important to get through food.

My favorite thing about sweetpotatoes is their high amounts of antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation in the body and contribute to overall wellness.

What makes sweetpotatoes for kids even more appealing is that they come in many different colors and varieties, all with slightly differing nutrition content.

Depending on the region in which you live, you may find white, orange, purple, red or even yellow varieties. 

When serving sweetpotato for baby as finger foods, you want to avoid high amounts of sugar, saturated fat and sodium.

Some of these recipes may need to be adjusted slightly (ie – leave out the salt, sugar).

For the most part, though, these recipes are safe to serve to babies of all ages, and will work great as babies age through toddlerhood, too.

And if you can introduce them early, there’s a good chance that babies will have more of a palate for these flavors through childhood.

Lots of exposure is necessary for some kids, and that’s okay. So, enjoy these sweet potato finger food recipes and inspiration.

I hope you enjoy these sweet potato finger foods. Make sure to leave a comment or review!